Should Game of Thrones Spoil A Song of Ice and Fire, or Create Its Own Ending?

Game of Thrones is most likely going to run out of content from the A Song of Ice and Fire book series after (or maybe even during) next season.

Since no one knows how long it will be before the next book in the series is published, let alone when the last book will be out, the show is almost definitely going to face a big question pretty soon: Should they spoil the ending of the books and tell the story the author plans to tell, or should they go their own way and make up their own ending?

We can see both sides of the argument.

Tell the books’ story. George R. R. Martin has spent over two decades creating an incredible world and weaving an amazing story, but realistically, it’s going to be another two decades (or at least a long time) before he finishes what he’s started. His recent side projects, like the World of Ice and Fire book, take time away from his main story and suggest that he’s now, 20 years later from when he started, more interested in exploring the background of the world he’s created than he is in finishing the story he began telling in his early 40s (he’s now 65). And even though he hates when people bring it up, George isn’t going to live forever, so there’s no guarantee he’s going to ever finish the series. Therefore, if the show is the only way the story will ever be told, then the show has to tell George’s story. There’s too much time invested to throw away all that’s been created without showing us the resolution that was intended by the author.

Make up your own ending. The show can stand on its own without being bound to whatever George has planned. More and more, the show is straying from the books with each passing season, and guess what? It’s growing in popularity. We see no reason why the show shouldn’t just follow their instincts and make the most satisfying ending they can for this medium, regardless of what George has planned. Also, there’s the idea of author’s right. Even though he technically sold the rights to his story to HBO, the romantic in us likes to think that George still has the right to finish telling his story on his own terms, without having his ending that he’s been building toward for over two decades spoiled by some usurpers.

What do you think, should Game of Thrones spoil the ending of A Song of Ice and Fire? Or should they create their own ending?